A Hollywood actor and producer was arrested and charged for allegedly using casting calls for acting roles to sexually abuse teen girls.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office arrested Shane Ryan Gledhill, 46, on 24 felony charges of sexual abuse of children after a lengthy, five-year investigation, the department said in a press release.
Gledhill, who also goes by the last name of Ryan-Reid professionally, has 125 acting credits and 241 producer credits, and has worked on projects alongside actors Shelley Duvall, Tom Arnold, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ed Harris. Most of the films he was involved with are low-budget, direct to video efforts.
The sheriff’s department revealed that the first victim was a young girl who said that she was exploited at the age of 15 when she attended a casting call that Gledhill arranged. That report quickly led to similar accusations by nine other young girls.
Investigators seized Gledhill’s files and digital devices from his home in 2022 and then initiated a thorough forensic investigation into the evidence.
Gledhill reportedly used several different last names to arrange the casting calls, prompting the sheriff’s dept. to release his booking photo as a warning to young actresses.
“The Sheriff’s Office is releasing Gledhill’s booking photograph because detectives believe he often used the professional names ‘Shane Ryan’ and ‘Shane Ryan-Reid’ when contacting aspiring actors and filmmakers,” the dept. said in its notice.
“Individuals who interacted with him under those names may not recognize his legal name. Detectives hope the photograph will assist in identifying additional survivors or witnesses.”
The actor and producer is facing charges including child molestation, rape, forcible sexual assault, contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, possession of child sexual abuse material and providing harmful matter to a minor.
Gledhill was booked into the Northern Branch Jail on a $2 million bail.
Investigators feel that there may be far more victims over the 25 years Gledhill has been conducting casting calls and they are urging anyone who feels they may have been a victim to contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
“Based on evidence developed during the investigation, detectives believe there may be additional survivors who have not yet been identified or come forward,” the sheriff’s office added.
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